Akhenaten essay

Akhenaten is often not credited as being one of the great pharaoh’s of ancient Egypt; his name is not as recognized as his son, Tutankhamen. However he deserves acknowledged for being a revolutionary leader. Akhenaten is most well-known as being a spiritual enthusiast and instigator of revolution within the kingdom of Egypt. Many historians have recognized Akhenaten with being solely responsible for developing a religious revolution in Egypt. Nevertheless his struggles defined as the first true effort at instituting a monotheistic state in a polytheistic society, his efforts were not eternal. The reasoning behind his decisions to change Egypt's faith is still observed though to this day. “Today most historical resources believe Akhenaten was an egotistic person who transformed religion in Egypt during his reign to help his own naiveté and clichés.” In this paper I will argue that misconception, and clarify that Akhenaten revolutionized ancient Egypt, and inspired future rulers.
Akhenaten was a Ruler of Egypt during the 18th Dynasty. He rose to the throne as Amenhotep IV, following his father Amenhotep III. Akhenaten's short-term sovereignty, only about 16 years, emerged during the time when “Egyptian history and many scholars continue that Akhenaten was responsible for this decline.” Akhenaten, probably in a change to diminish the administrative influence of the Priests, introduced the worship of one God, the Aten, or Sun disk. This meant that the Pharaoh, not the clergy, was the personal connection between the population and the Aten which effectively ended the impact of the many temples.

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Akhenaten decided to change radically the religion of ancient Egypt. In fact, it is even possible to speak about a kind of religious and, therefore, Cultural Revolution initiated by Akhenaten. He attempted to discard the traditional attitudes of ancient Egyptians to religion and their spiritual beliefs. Akhenaten started the politics which he directed at the